I Could Not Ask For More
by BlueberryPancakes
Summary: The Final Installment in the River Jade Skellington Trilogy Finally!


Before I get to the actual story, I'd just like to say, thank you all so much for hanging on for so long, waiting patiently for this final piece.  I regret that it took me so long, but the past is the past, and now, after over a year of waiting, it's finally here.  I made my goal of finishing by the time summer started for 2003, and now, I'm honored to present to you, the final piece of the puzzle.  

Thank you all again for everything, you truly have helped my inspiration, and aided me in successfully defeating my writers' block.  I hope this story brings the River Trilogy to a close as you hoped it would.

Sincerely, Rebecca,

a.k.a. Blueberry Pancakes

I Could Not Ask For More

The final installment in the River Skellington trilogy 

          Far from the nadir of the Skellington mansion, out of the reach of Halloweentown, deep within the depths of the misty mountains of the human realm, a murky figure stood in the mouth of the cave; a fierce wind whipped through jet-black hair, blowing a merciless black cloak feverously around the hollowed figure, eyes sunken in void, the cold moonlight casting an eerie shadow back into the deepest reaches of the cave, as he stood watching, waiting.  

*        *        *

          River shivered as an eerie chill came over her, creeping up her spine like a deadly spider moving slowly towards its helpless prey.  Her breath quickened; the chill escalated, and became a painful burst of fire shooting through her body like an arrow piercing the flesh.  

           She let out a sharp gasp, and her vision went blurry as she slumped back onto the couch, unconscious.  Her mind clouded with visions.  

          A darkened figure stepped before her, crackling evilly.  "There once was a little princess named River…"

          "No…" She moaned, rolling her head from side to side, bidding herself to wake up.  

          The figure cracked again, throwing his head back, jet-black hair whipping in the wind before he faded into the background, revealing a small cabin in a blanket of fresh snow.  

          River's eyes snapped open, and she breathed heavily.  She swallowed hard and sat up.  She looked around; the room was dark, as was the sky.  A heavy banging sounded from down the hall, twelve a clock.  

          She gasped as a door slammed shut, followed by a muffled curse, and footsteps coming her way.  She swung her legs over the side of the couch, hands groping for some type of weapon.  

          The footsteps came closer, closer, growing softer and harder to trace, leaving the intruder's position behind a wall of darkness.  

          Her hands found something, and she gripped it tightly, raising the decorative throw pillow to her side as she stood, prepared to attack.  

          A dark figure stumbled into the room, jet-black hair falling around the hollow-looking face, breathing heavily and advancing towards her.  

          River let out a shriek and swung the pillow, pounding the figure mercilessly.  "Why are you tormenting me?!" She demanded.  

          "River!" The darkened voice came to her as his hand fumbled the wall for the light switch.  "River, it's me!"

          The lights came on, and River found herself face to face with her intruder: Oliver Skellington.  

          She let out a surprised scream, which he echoed quickly, jumping at the sound.  

          "What's going on down here?!" Jack Skellington's voice came from the stairs as he and Sally burst into the room, Echo close at their heels.  

          "What's with all the screaming?  It sounds like someone's being murdered… with a rusty _fork_!" Echo looked disgruntled, her red hair sticking out every which way, sleep clothes crumpled and robe hastily put on, one arm hanging limp at her side where she missed the hole.  

          Jack, Sally, and Echo stopped and stared at the scene before them: River stood, slightly hunched over, eyes wide and pillow in hand, Oliver in front of her, hands clamping the pillow in a vain attempt to keep her from hitting him with it, a long, jagged tear in his black pants leg, both of them completely out of breath.  

          "(S)he was trying to kill me!" They both pointed vigorously at each other.  

          "You woke us up in the middle of the night for that?" Jack question, crossing his skeletal arms in front of him, "I have work in the morning!"

          "But (s)he was trying to kill me!" They pouted.  

          "He slammed the door and came into the room and it was dark and he was coming towards me!" River accused her brother.  

          "I was out scarring and I just came back!" Oliver defended himself.  

          Sally shook her head, rolling her eyes, "Oh, for the love of Halloween…" She muttered.  

          "Scarring?  Where'd you go?" Echo perked up, forgetting about the sleep she was being deprived of.  

          "That place you told me about on the outskirts of Mexico City." Oliver answered.  

          "Oh, cool.  Did you like it?" Echo inquired.  

          "Yah, it was great, except you forgot to mention one key piece of information." Oliver growled the last part.  

          Echo gave him a puzzled look, "What didn't I tell you?  You didn't get lost, did you?"

          "No." Oliver rolled his eyes, "You forgot to tell me that they have **dogs**!" He screamed, pulling at his ripped pants leg for emphasis, "That's why I was out of breath, those things are fast!"

           "Oops."

           "You scared the living spooks out of me!" River screamed.  "You can't just come into a house and slam the door, and be out of breath!"

          "Well, I did!" Oliver shot back.  

          Jack had quite enough of this, or rather, his skull had had enough, "QUIET!"

          A dead silence filled the room.  

          "Everyone stop fighting!  River: no one is trying to kill you.  Oliver: no one is trying to kill you.  Echo: why are you still here?  Sally: …" He stopped seeing the look on his wife's face, "Never mind.  I'm going to bed.  There will be no more screaming until morning.  Is that clear?"

          "Yes, yes." Everyone mumbled in uncanny unison before walking up the stairs to their bedrooms where they remained for what was left of the night.  

*        *        *

          Morning came soon, too soon, as far as Jack was concerned, and the world was returned to normal, at least on the outside.  

          Oliver limped around, eyes shooting spiders Echo, who chided him on being more aware of his surroundings, while River took the balcony outside her room trying to decipher the dream.  

          River sighed, and crossed her arms in front of her as the wind blew through her long red hair, throwing it around her shoulders in a tousled yet beautiful mess.  

          The Halloween sun glowed almost forebodingly bright in the early hours of the day.  The town still lay silent from the night of slumber and pleasant nightmares, the earliest of risers just beginning to leave their beds, and prepare for the new day.  

          Often times she had wondered what had ever become of the cabin, and the one whom had first shown it too her.  Often times she had discarded the notion, she didn't care, not now, not anymore.  Never again would she be stupid enough to believe a fairy tale.  

          She turned away from the scene before her, and came downstairs for a warming breakfast of toast, eggs, and bat wings.  

          The sound of clicking forks, the spider-shaped salt and pepper shakers sliding from one side of the table to the other as they were passed from skeleton to rag doll, the scraping of snake jam being spread across hot toast, and the chinking of the wooden-handled knife against the bat wings jar filled the air: breakfast at the Skellington table.  

          Jack sat reading the morning news, looking just about as sophisticated and profession as he could, dressed in his pin-stripped suit and classic bat tie.  

          Oliver ate slowly, and was obviously deep in thought, lost in his own little world, as he often was.  

          River finished her breakfast, and excused herself from the table.  She walked out the front door, and moved quickly down the long staircase, and through the pumpkin gates, and onto the streets.  She greeted residents as they came past, and made her way into the graveyard.  

          The dirt blew around her feet as she stood at the top of the Spiral Hill, a place she had come to so many times before.  

          Even the hill seemed strange now.  In the recent weeks, everything had started to change.  She felt as through if she turned around suddenly, she would see someone watching her, following her, stalking her.  Yet she knew no one was there.  

          True, Halloween was coming up, and she was in the infamous Halloweentown, but this was a feeling different than normal Halloween time jitters and spooks.  Something was wrong, seriously wrong.  But what it was, she didn't know.  

          She sighed heavily, and lowered her slender body to the ground, sitting cross-legged at the top of the curled hill, staring out at the misty graveyard as she thought.  

          The day passed quickly, and soon it was dark out, the moon high in the sky.  

          River was lifted from her thought-filled daze by a gentle hand on her shoulder.  She jumped slightly, and looked up, "Oh, Echo, it's you."

          Her red-haired sister smiled softly, "Dinner was ready an hour ago, but we ate without you, cause Dad wasn't there either.  I figured you wouldn't want to be bothered.  But it's getting dark, now, so I thought someone should come and check on you."

          River smiled, "Thanks." She extended her hand, and Echo helped her up.  "Is it just me, or have things been getting creepier around here?  I mean, I know we're where we are, but it's a different kind of creepy, like… evil creepy or something." She turned her head to look at her sister as they walked back to their mansion.  

          Echo nodded, "I know what you mean." She thought for a moment, "I don't know.  I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, but, sometimes, when I'm alone, I have this feeling someone is watching us, but then it goes away in a few seconds.  Course, I get that feeling a lot.  I'm kinda paranoid, it's sorta my personality." She shrugged.  "Why?  Feeling scared?"

          "I don't know." River laughed once, "I don't know about anything else anymore."

          Echo nodded thoughtfully.  

          The metal gates slammed shut behind them with a clang, and the Pumpkin Princesses disappeared into the massive Skellington mansion while the town slumbered.  

          "Dinner was good, but you didn't miss much on the conversation bit.  Oliver was thinking, I was eating, and Mom was going over some sewing patterns." Echo told her, and pulled out the leftovers while River reached into the dark mahogany cabinet and lifted an orange and black spiral plate and setting of silverware.  

          "Sounds like normal." River laughed, and set the dishes on the table.  "You'd think with a houseful of teenagers, we'd talk a whole lot more than we do."

          Echo laughed, "Well, we're not your average teenagers."

          "That's for sure.  We're Skellington's."

*        *        *

          Dark laughter crackled in the background, a black hole of spiraled black and white and orange made her feel like Alice, her hair was thrown across her face, no matter how hard she tried to push it away.  

          There was a brilliant flash of light, and then… no, it couldn't be… it wasn't…  

          River's mouth fell open.  

          A soft moan came from the crumpled heap.  

          River bolted up in bed.  She looked around quickly, and found herself sitting up in bed, the covers in a state of slight disarray.  _It was a dream…_  

          She looked over at her clock; two of the black widow's legs were at one and six.  _One thirty.  Wonderful._  She exhaled and lay back down, lying on her back for a few moments.  

          _This isn't going to work, who am I kidding?_  She sat up again, and pulled the covers off her pale blue legs.  

          She dressed quickly, taking special care to be silent, and no wake anyone else in the old house.  

          She crept to her door, and opened it slowly, so it wouldn't creek.  She looked back into her room for a moment, then turned, and left, walking down the hall, and down the stairs.  

          It seemed like eternity before the door finally opened; she slid out of the mansion into the darkness of the night like a cat, sleek and unnoticed.  

          River sidestepped the ghoul street band that slept just outside the Skellington gates, and made her way through the graveyard, and over Spiral Hill.  

          Zero poked his head out from his grave, and watched the Pumpkin Princess disappear into the blackness of the night.  

            River walked silently though the woods, a concerned look of anger and fear distorting her jade eyes.  

          She struggled to remember the dream.  _I've often wished that the dreams would go away, and now that they have, I want to remember._  She shook her head, ridding her mind of the thought.  

          The circle of trees appeared before her, casting a shadow of old memories and new hopes.  

          "If I'm going to put this behind me, I have to face my fears."  Her own voice rang in her mind, urging her forward.  

          She carefully pulled open the Christmas tree door, and felt the familiar tug of magic pull her into Christmas Town.  

          The streets of Christmas Town were not unlike those of Halloween; dark and empty, only the tiny, bright, colored Christmas lights prevented complete darkness.  

          The ground crunched beneath her feet as she walked slowly on the snow-covered path.  River looked up, watching the branches sway in the cold wind.  

          A small cabin loomed in front of her.  

          Her hand reached slowly for the door.  Her hand shook as she turned the silver handle.  

          The door creaked open, displaying a dark, dusty, deserted room.  

          River turned her head, letting her long red hair fall around her face and cascade over her broad shoulders.  

          The wind stopped, the trees ceased swaying, and an eerie silence came over the woods.  

          She turned back, and stepped into the cabin, and looked around.  

          The room before her looked like a war zone; furniture and dishes thrown on the floor, a complete look of havoc and chaos filled the room.  

          River sucked in a shaky breath, "Oh my God…" she uttered, her delicate fingers moving to her cherry lips.  Her eyes locked on the lanky figure that lay unconscious on the floor amongst the broken glass.  

*        *        *

          Oliver lay on his back in bed, starting up at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of his parent's steady breathing from the room down the hall.  

          He rolled over onto his side, and gathered the pillow in his hands, fluffing it up and readjusting his position.  

          Sleep evaded him.  It had for several nights now, through he wasn't sure why.  Life was normal, trapped in the perpetual motion of preparing for Halloween within the short time frame of three hundred and sixty four days they had before the monumental holiday came again.  

          It was nearing July, and not only was his birthday coming up, but Halloween was a short four months away.  It was now time for things to start breaking down, and plans to go amiss; the Almighty Pumpkin King would, of course, save the day, with the help of his family, as they always did, and this Halloween would be proclaimed to be the "Most Horrible Yet!" by the two-faced mayor, and indeed, it would have been.  

          Each year the nightmare changed, and morphed into something new.  No year was so scary as the year the Christmas Fiasco had occurred, but normally that wasn't counted, as it wasn't the nice kind of scared, the one that Halloween lived for, but a dark, clenching despair kind of dread, and nobody likes that.  

          Oliver blinked slowly, and closed his eyes, rolling over onto his back as sleep began to seep through him, thoughts of a wonderfully horrible Halloween filling his skull.  

*        *        *

          "Orion!" River fell to her knees beside the motionless figure.  

          His eyes were closed, and his skin even more pale than it normally had been.  His chest barely rose and fell with each quiet, shallow breath.  

          River gently rolled him onto his back, kneeling over him, her long red hair falling forward.  "Orion…" She murmured.  

          Orion's eyes remained closed, his breathing unchanged.  

          River carefully traced her slender finger across his pale face, brushing it against his soft, dry lips.  "Please, Orion…  Open your eyes, wake up from this nightmare."

          Orion showed no sign of hearing her.  

*        *        *

          Echo stood silently by the door of the guest bedroom as her parents came up to her.  "She's in there." She said simply, and stepped aside, allowing them to open the door and step into the luxurious room.  

          The door creaked open; River kneeled by the heavily carved bed, her long red hair falling over her shoulders as she brushed the tips of her fingers across the pale skin of Orion's cheek.  

          Jack's jaw fell open, as did Sally's; neither of them made a sound.  

          River turned to them slowly, "I found him, in the cabin… he was close to death then, and is no farther from it now."

          Jack took a shocked step forward, and peered down at the motionless figure.  "It cannot be…"

          River nodded, "He's been there the whole time… like this or not, I don't know.  But I don't like the looks of the cuts on his arms."

          Orion's eyelids slowly began to flutter open, revealing glazed and reddened eyes; no one even dared to breath, but his eyes closed again, without a word.  

          River slowly pulled her eyes away from him; she turned to her father, "I found him laying on the floor… a knife not to far from his hand, as if it had fallen on his way down."  She glanced back at the jagged, healing, horizontal and vertical cuts along Orion's arms and wrists, running her fingertips across the scars.  

          Jack closed his eyes for a moment before speaking, "He's lucky you found him when you did.  He's been placed under a spell, that is the only way his eyes could look the way they did.  He is not fully in control of his won mind, or body." His voice was grave.  

          No one in the Skellington house spoke that night, their minds were far too busy with other matters, mainly Orion, and who had done this to him, and The Admirer.  

          Dinner was in silence; even the gentle click of the silverware on the plates seemed dulled by some invisible force.  

          River stared at the food on her plate.  Her appetite was gone, and she couldn't stop thinking about Orion.  How long had he been like this?  What would have happened if she had gone to him sooner?  What would have became of him had she not found him at all, would he still be in the world?  Probably not.  

          She cursed herself for not traveling to the cabin sooner, for putting off her feelings, trying to ignore them, trying to push away her fears rather than confront them.  

          This was all her fault, everything was.  Had she been brave, and stood up to the situation, instead of sitting back, and feebly trying to hold onto the reins of the mad, runaway horse, if she had stood up, and thrust all her strength and will into it, the madness would have stopped, and none of this would have happened.  None of this would have happened.  Orion would be his old self; she would be happy, and comfortable, helping plan for the upcoming Halloween with her sister and brother, and mother and father, and Orion…

          Her train of thought stopped abruptly.  She would be here, with Orion, by her side.  Did she truly love him?  She had before, she knew that, but she thought things had changed.  But now truth stared her in the face: they hadn't.  Situations changed, people changed, but love did not, love was eternal.  If it was meant to be.  

          She loved Orion, she always had, and there was no way she could ever stop, even though Hell could use a cold day now and then.  

*        *        *

          River was jolted from her light sleep as her head slipped off her open palm where it rested as she leaned on the desk in her father's office.  

          She yawned and looked around.  The desk was scattered with dusty papers, in varying states of yellow with age.  Odd, she thought, Jack's desk was often a clutter, but never dusty, at least, never this dusty, it looked as though no one had touched it in at least ten years.  

          The room around suddenly seemed to go cold, and dark, and she could see her breath.  

          A single, soft, creak in the floorboards told her someone was behind her.  She turned around in the rolling chair slowly, and breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, Oliver, it's just you." She smiled softly.  Her smile faded, it was her brother standing there, but something was wrong, he was much too… transparent.  

          "Ollie?" She drew in a shaking breath as the full realization that she could clearly see the window behind him, even though his body was blocking it.  

          Oliver's placid expression remained the same, and he withdrew his hand from his pocket, and pulled out a poison ring, minus its contents, the one she had given him.  "It's all your fault." He told her, voice deadly quiet.  "It's you're fault I died, it's your fault everybody else died, it's all your fault, everything is." He crackled evilly at her horror filled face.  

          River woke up screaming that night.  

          Oliver's eyes burst open as he felt a sudden weight fall down on top of him, "What?" He groaned, looking over at the clock, it was still four hours till dawn, for screaming out loud.  

          River's disheveled hair hung wildly around her shoulders, sticking out in every direction as she leaned over him, breathing erratically.  

          "River!  What in the name of Halloween are you doing?  You scared the living corpses out of me!" Oliver nearly shouted, exasperated.  He fell back onto the bed, "What is it, what do you want?" His eyes narrowed, "River…  River, what is it, what's wrong?" He sat up again, and laid his hand on her arm; he gasped, she was as cold as ice.  

          River smiled at him, seemingly oblivious to everything that had just happened, "You're all right…" She gently ran her the back of her ice-cold hand across his cheek.  "It was just a dream." She reached down with her other hand, and carefully pulled off his ring.  

          "Riv… Riv, what are you doing?  Are you okay?" Oliver looked down, but made no attempt to stop her.  

          River just smiled, "It was just a dream." She softly kissed his forehead, and crawled back, sliding off the bed, and leaving the room, "Go to sleep, now, Ollie… everything is all right." She closed the door behind her, leaving him to make out what had just happened.  

          She walked slowly down the hallway, stumbling sleepily as she shuffled her way to the guest bedroom.  

          The door opened with a drawn out creak of the old hinges, and she crept in silently, as though it would make any difference to the comatose-like figure lying motionless on the bed.  

          She sighed, and gazed on Orion's pale face with sad eyes, before curling up in a ball on the bed on the other side of the room, near the window, falling asleep almost instantly.  

*        *        *

            A dark figure stepped through the iron gates of Halloweentown, dragging something behind him.  

          The town grew silent; residents came outside to stand in front of their houses to see what the silence was about.  Some gasped, and went back inside, others stayed out, and stared at the scene that lay before them.  

          The dark figure stopped by the fountain, and pulled his baggage into a sitting position, leaning him against the side of the fountain.  "Creatures of Halloween!" The figure's deep voice boomed, "I bid you all to come and see the scene that I have devised for you all."

          Citizens gathered around him, watching his every move, "What have you done?!" One of them yelled.  

          River ran down the long staircase and through the gates of the Skellington mansion.  Her breath rasped, and her long red hair bounced around her shoulders as she made her way thought the crowd and to the ghoul fountain in the middle of Halloweentown.  

          She stood and stared at the figure.  He returned her hard gaze, the end of the rope he held clamed in his hand, tightly wrapped around Oliver's neck in a hangman's noose.  

          "So you have returned." His voice was gruff, and oddly familiar.  "So you have returned." He repeated.  

          River moved closer to the fountain, "I know who you are." She whispered hoarsely, her mind stopped, her voice was not her own.  

          "So you have returned." He repeated again.  

          "You are The Admirer." River's jade eyes turned to stone as time stood still, and motions ceased.  

          She blinked; suddenly she and The Admirer were engaged in a full-scale fistfight.  She reached into her pocket, and pulled out Oliver's poison ring.  _How did I get this?_  She asked herself.  

          The Admirer's hand flew to her throat, and gripped as tightly as he could.  

          Everything started happening in slow motion, River's eyes slowed to a sluggish movement, her hands reached for her attacker's neck.  

          His grip tightened; and the sounds of the crowd cheering, the cool breeze whistling through her hair, stopped, only the loud, dull sound of her heart beating remained.  

          River thrust the open ring at him, inching the poison closer and closer to him.  

          There was a flash, and the crowd disappeared, River was left with The Admirer in the middle of Town Square.  

          The flash momentarily disoriented The Admirer; River, confused and disoriented herself, emptied the contents of the ring into his open mouth.  

          The Admirer screamed, and his body convulsed, throwing River away, and into large mud puddle.  

          She rolled over on her back, and gasped for air, letting her head fall back to see The Admirer.  

          With a final scream of pain, and one last spasm, his body lay still; the serrated dagger slid from his hand, and his grip around the noose loosened.  

          River reached her hand feebly towards Oliver's limp body, but when her hand touched his, he disappeared; only a few scattered leaves were left where he had been.  

          She moaned, letting her mouth fall open, and her eyelids droop.  She remained still until tiny raindrops fell, making small splashes in the puddle where she lay.  

          Her strength returned slowly, and she pushed herself up off the ground.  She crawled over to the lifeless body just a few feet away, reached up, and yanked his mask off his face, revealing his true identity: Jack Skellington. 

          River opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.  She stared in horror at her father's lifeless body, unable to scream, unable to think, unable to comprehend.  

          It was the thud of her wrist hitting the wooden frame of the black canopy bed that awoke her.  

          River breathed hard, her chest heaving within the confinements of her sweat-drenched nightshirt, which clung to her pale skin.  

          "Oh, oh sweet Halloween…" She fell back into bed, pulling in several deep breaths; she laughed.  She didn't know why she was laughing, or what was funny, if anything, but for some reason, she didn't see any reason to stop.  

          Orion lay motionless, save the steady rise and fall of his chest with each slow, deep, breath.  

*        *        *

          Oliver yawned as he drew a brush through his thick black hair before tossing it back onto the dresser, and walking quickly down the long spiraling staircase.  

          "I'm gonna walk Zero, be back in a bit!" He called, grabbing a piece of toast as it came out of the toaster and running out the front door, the little ghost dog close at his heels.  

          Zero yipped happily, and Oliver threw a stick for him to fetch as they neared the forest.  

          Zero used his glowing pumpkin nose and found the stick quickly, bringing it back to the Skellington.  

          "Good boy, Zero." Oliver smiled, and played with his floppy ghost ears.  "Here, fetch, boy!" He threw the stick far into the forest.  

          Zero barked, and zoomed off, disappearing from sight.  

          Oliver smiled, and followed him at a slower pace, taking in all the gloomy features of the forest around him.  He stopped when he came to his favorite cluster of trees, and sat down at their base, watching the wind move through the leaves while he waited for Zero to return.  

          _Odd_, He thought, _Zero usually doesn't take this long… I couldn't have thrown it that far…_  He looked around.  "Zero?" He called, "Zero, are you out there, boy?"

          A soft whistling of the wind through the branches answered him.  

          "Zero!" He tired again, louder this time, "Zero, come here boy!  Zero?" He stood, and started walking around, looking in the underbrush as he did.  

          Occasionally Zero would hide, and wait for them to find him, his version of hide-and-seek, but he would come to them after a while if they still hadn't found him, and he always came immediately if they called him with even the slightest hint of urgency.  

          "Zero?!" Oliver called again, stumbling when his foot caught in an exposed tree root.  He lost his balance, and fell, rolling down a small bluff, and into a ravine.  He coughed, and sat up slowly, brushing the dirt off of himself.  He looked around; he's never been to this part of the forest before.  "Zero?" He called cagily, "Zero, come here, boy."

          The snap of a twig drew his attention abruptly to a sharp turn in the ravine.  

          Oliver stood cautiously, and, making sure that nothing was broken or injured, crept up to the corner, shielded from the other side by the packed dirt wall, and peered over.  

          His eyes widened, "**ZERO!**"

          The world went black.  

*        *        *

          Echo yawned sleepily, and shuffled down the spiral staircase into the kitchen.  "Morning." She shook her head to clear it, and started to help her mother with breakfast.  

          "Thank you, Echo." Sally turned her neck around and smiled, seeing that Echo had set the table already, and was starting on the glasses.  "Could you go up and get your sister when you're finished, for me please?" She stirred the batcake batter, and poured enough for four cakes into the pan.  "Oh, and I think your father's up in the tower."

           "Sure." Echo nodded, and started back up the stairs.  She walked down the hallway and knocked on her sister's door, "Riv?  Breakfast is almost ready." She waited a few moments, but didn't get an answer.  

          "Riv?" She knocked again, and was about to open the door, her hand on the brass knob, when a sudden sound of struggling and muffled cries.  

          She walked hurriedly over to where the sounds were coming from: down the hallway, towards the guest bedroom.  Her eyes widened, and she broke into a run, skidding to a stop in front of door, which had evidently been flung open, and was left still ajar.  "River!  Oh my Halloween!  What… what?"

          River looked up at her, her red hair completely disheveled and tossed about, pajamas still on, even more wrinkled than normal, as she desperately tried to restrain Orion, who was thrashing about on the bed, muttering and moaning incomprehensible things, his eyes wide but vacant.  

          "What happened?" Echo darted over to the bed, and helped her sister hold Orion down, to keep him from hurting himself while River tried to calm him.  

          Orion's breathing was ragged, and raspy, every few moments he gulped in a deep breath of air, and then began muttering and crying out again and again.  

          Jack hummed a strange little tune the ghoul band had been playing the night before at Halloween Rehearsal as he walked briskly down the stairs from the tower and into the kitchen for breakfast.  

          "Morning, Jack." Sally smiled.  

          "Morning, Sal." They exchanged their morning kiss.  "Breakfast looks positively horrible*!  Where are the kids?" He sat down at the table.  (*Just for the record, whenever "horrible" is used in such a context, it means "great," "good," "excellent," etc.)

          "I don't know… Echo just went to River, and Oliver's out walking Zero, he should be back soon, though, I would think.  He never misses a meal, that one." Sally told him as she served the plates.  

          "Orion, calm down!" River commanded.  

          "M-mamijik… mam… mage…" Orion mumbled, and thrashed.  

          "What's he saying?" River felt his forehead quickly, "What is it, what are you trying to say, Orion?"

          "Mage… mage…" Orion tried again, moaning and throwing his head back.  

          "Mayge, mage…  ma…  Magic!?" Echo tried.  

          "Magic!" Orion repeated, his eyes growing even wider.  

          "Magic?  What?  He must be hallucinating…" River shook her head.  

          Orion shook his head furiously 'no,' "Magic." He repeated, slurring slightly.  

          "What kind of magic, Orion?" Echo tried again, seeing that he struggled even more when they tried to deny his ramblings.  

          "Ba… ba… da, da, daaarrrkk." Orion mumbled, falling back, relaxing a little more.  

          "Dark magic?" River repeated, sparing a glance at her sister.  

          Orion nodded, and fell further back into the trance he so abruptly jolted out of.  "Black magic… bad magic…"

          "Where, where is this happening, where is the black magic happening?" Echo demanded.  

          Orion opened his mouth, but no sound came out.  

          "Where, Orion, tell us where." Echo asked him, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him.  

          "F-for-est." Orion breathed.  His eyes closed, and he succumbed completely to the strange spell-induced trance once more, leaving the room eerily quiet all of a sudden.  

          "Now where is Echo?  I sent her up there almost five minutes ago.  Echo?  Echo, are you up there?  Breakfast is getting cold!" Sally called up the stairs.  

          There was a sudden thunder of footsteps.  

          "Ah, here they come." She smiled, and sat down at the table, taking a bite of fried bat wing.  

          "Mom, Dad!  Orion, he was awake!"

          "Mom, Dad!  Orion's awake, well he was but he's not now!  He was rambling, only it wasn't rambling, it made sense!"

          "And he said something about dark magic!"

          "In the forest!"

          Jack and Sally stared at their two daughters, who seemed to be yelling at the top of their lungs in near unison.  They turned and looked at each other for a moment, then back to the girls.  

          "All right, all right.  Quiet!" Jack commanded, raising his hands for silence.  One at a time, what is going on, and speak _slowly_ this time."

          "Orion's awake, well, he was awake, he's back in his coma now.  But he was awake, and that's the point." River began.  

          "Cause when he was awake, he said there was dark magic." Echo continued.  

          "In the forest." River finished.  

          Jack and Sally stared at them for a few moments in silence, before the Almighty Pumpkin King turned to his Queen, "Sal, do you have any idea what's going on?"

          "No- I think I understood it all better before." Sally shook her head.  "Try again, one more time, much, much, slower. And only one of you talk, until the other one's _completely_ done." She instructed.  

          River and Echo exchanged a glance, before they both started to speak at the same time, then stopped, only to start speaking at the same time again.  

          "Orion was awake.  He said something about dark magic, in the forest, and then he went back into his trance again." River told them.  

          "Are you sure he wasn't hallucinating, are you sure you weren't hallucinating?" Jack asked skeptically, crossing his skeletal arms.  

          "At first we thought he may have been, but I'm sure we weren't.  He did sound pretty normal… expect for the fact that he kept struggling and mumbling incoherently until he could finally get out the right word.  He never did manage to speak in full sentences.  But I know for a fact _we_ weren't hallucinating!" River shrugged, and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.  

          "Look, I know it sounds pretty out there, but we're telling the truth, he really did wake up for a few minutes and struggle, and say all that stuff.  Whether he was consciously saying anything or not, or if it's even anything more than psychotic ramblings, I don't know, but he said it." Echo stood behind her sister.  

          Jack lowered his jaw to reply, when a frantic banning came from the front door, accompanied by the screaming of the doorbell.  

          "**JACK!  JACK!  OPEN THE DOOR, JACK!**"

          "Oh, wonderful, The Trio's here." Sally sighed, referring to them by their new nickname, as Oogie Boogie was now obsolete, and therefore their former dub of "Boogie's Boys" was no longer apt.  

          The pounding persisted.  

          Jack rolled his eye sockets, and walked to the door, pulling it open to find Lock, Shock, and Barrel staring up at him with wide eyes.  "Yes?" He asked, trying to remain calm, they always had a knack for disrupting him when something important was going on.  

          "You've gotta come see this!" Shock told him, and her brothers grabbed either of his bony hands, pulling him down the stairs and break-neck speed.  

          "We were out in the forest, and, and, we found him…  I don't know what happened, Jack!"

          "We didn't have anything to do with it, I swear!"

          Sally and the girls waiting for a few seconds, watching, as Jack had to run to keep up with the much younger spooks.  "I don't think I even need to ask this question, but I will anyway: should we follow them?"

          "I'll get our jackets." River volunteered, and disappeared into the hall closet.  

          "Where are you leading me?" Jack asked finally, after they lead him past everything he could have ever thought would have intrigued them this much.  

          "Into the forest, deep into the forest.  Down in the ravine, there.  That's where we found him, and I doubt he's gone anywhere." Lock explained.  

          "He who?" Jack asked, climbing down into the ravine after them.  

          "Zero, of course." Lock told him, and pointed, "He's over there, on the other side of that corner."

          "You'd better hold onto something, Jack.  It may be shocking." Shock told him, although no hint of a mischievous smile was on her unmasked face.  

          Jack sighed, and walked around the corner, expecting to see Zero stuck in some hole, or wedged somewhere where even in his ghost form he couldn't manage to free himself from.  

          The image that met his eye sockets made him freeze in his spot, completely unmoving, as he stared straight ahead.  

          River slid down the loose dirt side of the ravine, closely followed by Echo and their mother, and walked up behind them.  "What is it, what did they find?" She stopped suddenly, and gasped, "Oh my Halloween…"

          Echo nearly mirrored her, "What, what happened to, to, Zero?" She asked, looking up at her father, while Sally just stood motionless, a shocked expression on her face.  

          Jack opened his jaw to speak.  

          "We didn't have anything to do with it, Jack, we swear!" Lock, Shock, and Barrel said in unison.  

          Jack nodded, "Don't worry, I know you didn't.  There's no way you could have, it takes a great deal of power, dark power, to freeze a ghost."

          "So, Orion was telling the truth, then, wasn't he?" River asked quietly.  

          Jack nodded again, and everyone turned to stare at the perfectly still and solid ghost dog, the white sheet that was his body turned to icy stone.  

          Sally's eyes widened suddenly, "Wait, where's Oliver?  He went for a walk with…"

          "…Zero…"

*        *        *

          Oliver groaned; his eyelids fluttered open, only to squeeze shut again, the light, although dim, from the far corner of the cave too bright for his eyes, having been closed for so long.  How long had he been unconscious?  He wasn't sure.  

          He tried to sit up, but couldn't.  He fell back down onto the hard ground, and looked out the mouth of the cave; he squinted; he was in the Human World.  

          A dark figure walked across the line of sight.  "I see you're finally awake.  Took you long enough."

          Oliver's eyes widened, "Who are you?" He breathed, both horrified and amazed at the prospect.  

          A short, gruff, laugh, "Guess who."

*        *        *

          "Jack?  Hello!  How have you been, old boy?  Oh, really…  Well, that's, certainly…  No, I'm sorry, I haven't.  I'll send word if I do though, as soon as it's brought to my attention.  Good luck, then, Jack, say hello to Sally and the kids for me.  Right, bye."

          "Damn." Jack slammed the spider-webbed phone back on its cradle, confirming the rest of the Skellington's fears.  "Sandy hasn't seen him either."

          Echo's shoulders dropped heavily, and she sighed, "Do all families have this problem?  Their kids go missing randomly?"

          "No, just us, cause we're special." River said dryly, and flopped down onto a couch.  

          "What is it with us Skellingtons and loosing track of our kids?  They just disappear and reappear out of thin air!  I can guarantee you no other family has much trouble looking after their children!" Jack lamented.  

          "There's nothing we can do, except wait." Sally picked at the stitching on her arm.  

          "I hate waiting." Echo huffed, crossing her arms.  

          "Don't we all?"

*        *        *

          Oliver awoke the next morning just as the sun had begun to rise, flooding the shallower recesses of the cave with sunshine, warm and bright.  

          The dark figure stood at the mouth of the cave, just as he had the night before, and the night before that, and the night before that.  Every morning when Oliver woke up, he was there, watching.  Every night when he finally went to sleep, he was there.  He'd lost track of how many days he'd been there, with the mysterious creature, too many.  

          He struggled slightly with his bonds, knowing from previous experience he couldn't free himself.  Even if he could, he had no idea where he was; he would be lost somewhere in the vast Human World.  

          "Don't worry, Pumpkin Prince, it won't be long now." The dark figure stepped away from the light, and started to disappear into the darkness.  

          "Won't be long till what?" Oliver asked, his throat dry and parched.  

          "You'll see." The masked figure stepped forward again, carrying what looked like a mason jar full of molasses in his hand.  

          Oliver stared at him, and struggled against him when he force-fed him the goopy serum.  

          "Don't worry, Pumpkin Prince, it's just a little nightshade, that's all."

          Oliver fought to keep his eyes open, but it wasn't long before his world transformed into a lifeless black blob of empty space.  

*        *        *

          Jack sat staring at Orion's motionless figure.  The Jack-o-Lantern sun had sank down into the horizon some time ago, yet he still sat, as he had early that morning, when the sun had first risen.  

          It was obvious Orion wasn't going to wake up from his trance again; the chance was extremely slim, at least.  

          Him waking from his magic induced trance when Zero had been attacked and Oliver had gone missing clearly linked the two.  But what linked them to the culprit was yet to be determined.  Could it be The Admirer?  Although they hadn't heard from him in quite a while, no one was stupid enough to think he had just gone away and left them to their perfectly horrible lives.  

          Jack sighed, and rested his skull on his skeletal hands, deep in thought.  

*        *        *

          "Who do you think it was?" Echo asked, breaking the silence between the two sisters.  

          "Hmmm?" River turned her head from where she was staring out the window.  

          "Who do you think it was, that did that to Orion, and attacked Zero, and probably kidnapped Oliver?" Echo asked again.  

          River said nothing for a moment, "I don't know." She told her quietly.  "As much as I would like to believe it's The Admirer, I can't help but thinking it's not, that it's all just a ploy to distract us so that he can plan his attack."

          "But then he would still be involved." Echo pointed out.  

          "Yes." River nodded, "I don't know what to think, Echo, I really don't." She shook her head, and wiped her eyes quickly.  

          "None of us do." Echo assured her, and moved to sit beside her, as they enveloped each other in a tight, reassuring hug.  

*        *        *

          River lie awake in bed, watching the light from her lava lamp, (a gift from Echo after one of her trips to the Human World), dance across the walls.  

          She sat up slowly, letting her feet dangle off the edge of the bed for a moment, before sliding off, and walking over to her closet.  She pulled out a dark blue bathrobe, and put it on over her pajamas, walking quietly out of her room and down the hall.  

          The door to the guest bedroom creaked only slightly when she opened it, the light from the nightlight in the hallway casting her elongated shadow on the floor before her.  

          She stepped up to the bed, where Orion lay, his position exactly the same as when he fell back into his trance after awakening suddenly with Zero's attack and Oliver's kidnapping.  

          She sighed as she looked down at him; he looked so helpless, so… pitiful almost.  His skin was a ghostly pale, even whiter than normal, and dark circles forming around his eyes, growing with each passing day.  

          She leaned down, and kissed him gently on the lips, "Be strong, Orion." She whispered, and left the room.  

*        *        *

          A pulsating orange and blue fire crackled in the fireplace, the bright flames casting eerie shadows on the walls.  

          Echo sat alone in the office, staring at Zero's frozen body, heavy and stiff, which had been placed in his basket until they could find a away to reverse the spell.  

          "Don't worry, Zero." She found herself saying, even though she knew he couldn't hear her, "We'll find a way to cure you, hopefully sooner rather than later, but we'll find one; no matter how long it takes, we won't give up, you'll be back to normal before you know it."

          She crawled forward on her hands and knees, and gently ran her hand down Zero's head and back, petting him.  He was no longer strangely cool, with almost a tingling effect, like when one's foot falls asleep, but a cold, dead, and blank feeling, lifeless, and empty.  

          "We'll find out who did this to you, and they will pay, they won't get away with this.  We'll find them, wherever they are, and we'll find Oliver.  No one escapes the wrath, of the Skellingtons." Her eyes burned with an unholy fire, a dark and brooding desire for the sweet taste of revenge, "You hit a Skellington, and the rest of us hit back."

          Tears fell silently, splashing on impact and dousing the top of Zero's head and some of her shirt.  "I promise you'll find a way to get you back to normal, I promise, Zero…"

*        *        *

          Three days had passed since Oliver's disappearance.  Four.  Five.  Six.  A week.  Two weeks.  No one had seen or heard from him since he left to go on the faithful walk with Zero.  

          No one was quite sure what to expect.  No one knew what was about to happen next.  Perhaps it was better they didn't.  

*        *        *

          A dark figure stepped through the iron gates of Halloweentown, dragging something behind him.  

          The town grew silent; residents came outside to stand in front of their houses to see what the silence was about.  Some gasped, and went back inside, others stayed out, and stared at the scene that lay before them.  

          The dark figure stopped by the fountain, and pulled his baggage into a sitting position, leaning him against the side of the fountain.  "Creatures of Halloween!" The figure's deep voice boomed, "I bid you all to come and see the scene that I have devised for you all."

          Citizens gathered around him, watching his every move, "What have you done?!" One of them yelled.  

          "A long time ago," He began, "I noticed a beautiful, young, vibrant girl, who was none other, that you're Pumpkin Princess: River Jade Skellington." He moved, and stepped up onto the fountain, "At that very moment, I decided that I would have her for my own, to love, to cherish, to own, forever." The Admirer spoke loudly; his voice rang with clarity, and horrific glee.  

          River sat next to Jack on the black couch, silently starting out the window.  

          The heavy, wooden, gothic clock banged loudly, and she jumped involuntarily.  

          Jack looked up from the plans he was scanning, "Not expecting it to be four already?  I wasn't either, really.  Your mother and I are going to go into the Human World shortly, see if we find any traces of Oliver.  We're not about to give up, I'm sure you know that." He paused for a second, "We'll find him, Riv, I know we will.  Something tells me we're closer than before, it shouldn't be long now, nearly everyone is on the look out for him.  

          "Echo said she would stay here, so you wouldn't be alone, we should be back sometime during the night or tomorrow morning, but no later than that."

          River nodded.  She turned back, and looked out the window again, scanning the streets of Halloweentown.  

          Something caught her eye.  

          "I'll be right back." She stood, and left the room quickly, leaving a very puzzled Jack alone in the gloomy, expansive room.  

          River closed the front door behind her, and forced herself to walk as normally as possible down the long set of stairs.  She flung open the iron gates, and making her way through the crowd to find the thing that had caught her eye, whom she knew could be none other, than The Admirer himself.  

          "And here she is now, my one and only, River Jade." The Admirer smiled and pointed his hand in her direction.  

          River's eyes widened, and immediately she knew who he was, there was no other possibility; he had to be The Admirer.  Finally, after years of fear and hate, she was face to face with her stalker.  Adrenalin took over, and what happened next, would forever be stored in her mind.  

          "What have you done to my brother, and Orion?" She asked coldly, her icy glare displayed her dangerous side, but showed her fear and horror.  

          The Admirer opened his mouth again, and started to speak.  Something blocked out the sound of his gruff, smooth, voice, as he circled around her tauntingly, the death-white mask covering his face.  

          River's heartbeat pounded in her ears, threatening to burst though her chest.  Her eyes moved slowly, examining her brother's still body.  

          The Admirer stopped circling, and stood directly before her, staring her down like an animal.  

          "Why are you tormenting me?" River asked, her voice deadly quiet.  

          The Admirer ignored her question, and stared straight at her, his eyes boring holes in the mask.  

          "Why are you tormenting me?" River demanded, and pressed her slender hands to each of his broad shoulders, sending him flying back several feet.  

          The Admirer recovered from the blow quickly, and came back at her.  

          River dodged his oncoming attack, but not by enough.  His left hand caught her arm, and he threw her to the ground.  

          The Admirer growled, and flung himself on top of her, his weight pinning her down.  His hands reached forward, and grasped her wrists, binding them in a painfully tight grip.  

          River drove her knee upward, paralyzing him long enough to drag herself from underneath him.  "You'll never get me." She snarled, breathing heavily.  

          The Admirer's eyes narrowed, hidden behind the close-fitting mask.  A single hand slid down his leg, to slowly unsheathe a long, serrated dagger.  

          River's eyes widened.  

          "If I can't have you, then no one will!" The Admirer hissed, and lunged forward.  

          River had but a split second to react.  

          _The dream…_  She reached into her pocket, withdrawing Oliver's poison ring.  She yanked it open, and thrust it out into The Admirer's mouth, open in a piercing shriek.  

          His dead weight fell on her, knocking the wind out of her lungs.  The Admirer's body convulsed as the deadly poison flooded through his veins.  And he was still.  

          River threw him aside, his lifeless hand falling limp around the dagger, and crawled over to her brother.  

          Oliver's eyes fluttered open slightly, the effects of the mild dose of nightshade beginning to wear off.  "Riv?" He croaked, coughing.  

          "Ollie…" River gently caressed the side of his pale face.  

          Oliver swallowed, and kept his eyes half closed, "The mask…" He murmured.  

          River's brows furrowed, "Ollie, what are you talking about?"

          "The mask," Oliver repeated, "take off, the mask…" He blinked slowly, his chest rising and falling with each slow, deep breath.  

          River forced herself to turn her head, and look over to the prone body, cloaked in black, lying some ten feet away from them.  She turned back, looking down at her younger brother.  

          Oliver closed his eyes, the poison giving him a splitting headache.  He squeezed her hand.  

          River swallowed, and slowly left him turning away from the wind, her long red hair blowing forward, and across her face.  

          The loose gravel crunched beneath her feet as she stepped up to The Admirer's body.  

          She crouched down, and, with a deep breath, drew her fingers under the lip of the mask, pulling it away to reveal the face of the mysterious Admirer.  

          Orion's eyes shot open suddenly, and he breathed heavily, starting up at the black canopy above him.  

          His hand traveled to the edge of the bed, and gripped the wooden frame tightly.  He hauled himself into a stiff sitting position, and moved his legs to dangle over the side.  

          The old floorboards creaked as he stumbled towards the bedroom door.  

          River gasped, and pulled her hand away quickly.  

          The Admirer's face was pale, his eyes closed and sunken into darkened circles.  

          She traced her fingers across his motionless cheek; his skin was cold to the touch.  

          His jet-black hair blew in the wind, jostling around his face.  The face that was of a sad and pitiful creature, not unlike that of any normal one, yet a masque on top of a strange mind, twisted with malice and lust.  

          She pulled his mask back down, covering his face one final time; no on else would ever look upon him again after this night.  

          "River…" A soft voice called from behind her.  

          She turned around, and saw Orion standing there, leaning heavily on one leg.  "Orion!" Her eyes widened.  "What are you doing here, when did you wake up?"

          "He's dead, isn't he?" Orion said gravely, as more of a statement than a question.  

          "Yes." River nodded solemnly after a moment.  

          "The spell was broken, when you saw his face… that was the only way it could have been broken.  He was counting on no one taking off his mask… especially you.' Orion took a step forward.  

          River swept forward, and wrapped her arms around him.  

          He laid his head on hers, and held her close, "I missed you, River." He murmured into her red hair.  

          "I missed you, too, Orion." She told him, as she rested her head on his chest.  

          "I love you."

*        *        *

          "You going to be okay, Ollie?" River asked quietly, so not to cause an unnecessary spike in the intensity of her brother's nightshade-hangover headache.  

          "I'll survive." Oliver mumbled, and readjusted the cold washcloth on his forehead, blocking out any and all light from his sensitive eyes.  

          Orion looked over his shoulder as River came up behind him, "She's still out." He told her, turning back to Echo's still body, which lay on the couch, covered with a soft blanket.  "She moans from time to time, but she falls right back into it."

          "Is that normal, when you pass out?" River asked, "I mean, should that happen?  I don't think I've ever been there when she passed out before, if she even has passed out before.  And even then, she didn't see you up and awake all of a sudden."

          "Well, she did hit her head pretty hard…"

          "Yah, that poor table…"

          "Could you keep it down?" Oliver grumbled from the other side of the room.  

          "Sorry, Ollie." River called back, and continued their conversation, much more quietly.  

          "When did you say your parents were coming back?" Orion asked.  

          "Sometime late tonight, or early tomorrow morning." They turned their heads to face the doorway, hearing footsteps and voices outside.  "Or now."

          "River, Echo?  We're home…" Jack stepped into the room, and trailed off.  

          "Jack, what is…?" Sally's eyes widened at the sight before them.  

          Orion smiled sheepishly, "Hi…" He waved slightly.  

          Zero barked from behind them, causing them all to jump.  

          Jack looked from Orion, to Zero, to Echo, to Oliver, and back to Orion again.  His eye sockets asked the question without him ever having to say a single word.  

          "The Admirer came here, he was the one who kidnapped Oliver, and froze Zero.  He was the one I saw, when I left yesterday, he was in The Square, he had Ollie out of it with nightshade.

          "I used Ollie's poison ring I took from him before he was kidnapped, and, killed, The Admirer… but when I lifted his mask, the spells must have been broken, on both Orion and Zero.  And, and Orion came out to me, and, then we came back here, and…" River started babbling on, unsure of where it was all coming from.  

          "And Echo's head made a connection with the table when she saw me, cause she didn't know that I had woken up, and gone out to find River; she's been out cold for at least an hour now, and Oliver's still under the effects of the nightshade… but other than that, we're all… o-kay." Orion continued.  

          Jack nodded slowly, as did Sally.  

          "So, you mean to tell us, that The Admirer's dead, River, our River, killed him, with the poison ring she took from Oliver, and then all the spells were broken, and everything is back to normal?!" Sally asked them, her voice growing more frantic as the sentence progress.  

          "**YES**!  We've already established that!  Now can you keep it down, **PLEASE?!**" Oliver nearly shrieked form the other side of the room.  

          "Sorry, Ollie." They all mumbled in unison.  

          There were a few long moments of silence, and then, "I think… it's time… for all of us… to… ah, who am I kidding, none of us are going to be able to sleep, anyway.  Sally, do we have any of that human stuff, coffee, I think it is?  This is going to be a long night." Jack sighed, and rubbed his temples; the shock had not worn off yet, and it would be a while before it did.  It was strange, really, how normal and calm someone can act even when they've just been given one of the greatest shocks of their entire life.  

          Sally nodded, and disappeared into the kitchen.  

          "Orion, you can help me carry Echo and Oliver to their bedrooms, and River… just, go, help your mother, or something.  We have a lot to talk about when I get back." Jack instructed.  

          River and Orion nodded, and headed off to do their respective duties.  

          Zero floated close by Jack's heels as he carried Echo up the stairs to her bedroom, closely followed by Orion, who carefully laid Oliver down and helped him pull the covers over him.  

          Jack looked down at his little ghost dog; he smiled, and shook his skull, "Always had a knack for getting yourself in trouble, don't you?"

          Zero barked.  

          They returned to the room, and made themselves comfortable, each of them (save Echo who was still unconscious, and Oliver, who's headache wouldn't permit it) with a very large, steaming cup of black coffee.  

          River sat down heavily on the couch next to Orion; a thousand words and images raced through her mind, yet she could think of nothing to say, the words would simply not come out.  She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, looking reminiscent of a goldfish.  

          "Are you sure this can't wait until morning?" Orion asked, equally as reluctant to speak of the whole ordeal himself.  

          "No." Jack shook his skull, "The story needs to be told, tonight.  If we wait until tomorrow, the details will not be as fresh, and then it will be much easier to just avoid it, and we can't allow that to happen.  The story needs to be told."

          "Why, why did you leave, all those years ago?" River asked finally, turning her head towards Orion.  

          "I knew your life was in danger.  You were not the only one The Admirer had sent letters to.  He told me, that if I were to stay, then he would have to terminate your life, if he couldn't have you, then no one could." Orion told her, "I tried to tell you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it, I couldn't give you any more worry or anything else to add to your burden that you already had.  And you didn't believe me when I told you, anyway.  I only wanted to protect you."

          River stared at him; tears started to well up in her green eyes.  It was true, she hadn't believed him, she had thought he was making a desperate attempt to justify his actions, and stay in her life, now it was so obvious.  Hindsight is always 20/20.  "I'm so sorry…" She broke down, and buried her face in her hands.  

          "It's all right." Orion soothed, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.  

          "So then did you realize that it was him that put you under the mind-control?" Jack asked quietly.  

          Orion nodded, "At the time I was only aware that my thoughts were foggy, and I would often wake with my wrists wrapped in bloody towels.  To this day I still can't remember ever inflicting any of such cuts, even though I process the scars." He shivered at the memory.  

          "It all seems to make sense, now, someone, The Admirer, was after River, so naturally he would be jealous of anyone with the same goal- though I must tell you that your difference in tactics is much appreciated- he would then seek to drive out this other competitor, and claim the prize for himself.  It's merely animal instincts at work." Jack put the pieces together slowly.  

          "And yet for some reason that gives me no sense of comfort." Sally remarked dryly.  

          "But why would he attack Zero, and Oliver?  They weren't competing with him, only I was." Orion asked.  

          "He probably just set a trap, knowing how I go for walks a lot, and expected to catch me, but found Zero instead, and then Oliver.  And he couldn't just let them go, they would have seen him, so he decided to dispose of Zero, and use Ollie as bait." River shrugged, "It all checks out, if you think about it, and it does fit in with the idea of acting primarily on animal instincts."

          Orion nodded thoughtfully.  

          A moment of silence passed before anyone spoke again.  

          "Maybe it's just me, but it does strike me as odd that The Admirer froze Zero; he has proven that he is a very clever sorcerer, and capable of extremely complex spells, such as mind control, why would he bother with such a simple spell as freezing someone, or something?" Sally wondered aloud, "It's got to be the oldest trick in the book.  I can list off at least a hundred times in which it's been used before."

          "Tribute to the classics?" Jack suggested.  "Maybe he's more sentimental that we thought."

          "That's a thought, I'd rather not picture." Orion's face twisted strangely.  "I for one prefer to remember him as a masked creature, one whom I hope never to see unmasked."

          Jack and Sally nodded in agreement, and Zero barked.  

          The clock struck midnight.  

          River yawned.  

          "I suppose we'd better be off to bed.  Details can wait until morning, can't they?" Orion suggested.  

          Sally nodded, "Yes, we can continue this later, when Echo and Ollie are up, then we can hear their side as well.  Goodnight, everyone, I'm going to go check on them."

          "Goodnight." River smiled softly, and watched her walk up the stairs.  "I'll see you in the morning, Orion." She kissed his cheek softly.  

          "Goodnight, Riv." Orion smiled, and left the room, climbing the stairs to the guest chambers.  

          The two remaining Halloween creatures left in the room stood silently.  

          "Even though he's dead and gone for good, I can't help but thinking we haven't seen the last of him, not yet."

          Jack smiled, "A very normal feeling after what we've all been though, especially you, Riv.  But, there's nothing to worry about, I promise you.  The Admirer's dead, and he's not coming back, so long as I can help it." He paused for a moment, before speaking again, "We're all safe, and sound, and that's what matters.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a corpse to deal with."

*        *        *

          The Admirer's body was buried, and treated as though it were any other deceased citizen of Halloween, only there was no ceremony, no black roses or nightshade lain on the fresh grave, no one there to say a final goodbye… except for one.  

          River laid a single dark colored flower on the freshly disturbed earth of The Admirer's grave, marked only with a gothic style cross, as no name was ever known for the mysterious fiend.  

          She gazed at the grave for a few more moments, before standing, and turning away, never to look upon it again.  

          Orion stood at the gates, waiting for River to return from the graveyard.  He smiled softly as she walked up to him; he knew she was at peace with what had happened, and that was all that mattered to him.  

          River smiled as she walked up to him, "Thanks for waiting, you didn't have to, you know."

          Oliver smiled, "I know, but I wanted to." He paused for a moment, "Why don't we take a walk up to the Spiral Hill?" He suggested, caressing the soft, pale blue skin of her slim hand.  

          "All right." River nodded.  

          They walked silently, hand in hand, though the graveyard and to the top of the spiraling black and gray hill.  

          "The sky is so beautiful tonight." River said as he gazed out at the setting Jack-o-Lantern sun.  

          "Yes, it is." Orion agreed, as his hand slipped into his pocket.  

          "It's like the nights we spent together… it seems so long ago, now…" River sighed.  

          "Yes, but something's are different." The small hint of a soft smile crossed Orion's pale-colored lips.  

          "Like what?" River turned around.  She gasped.  "Orion…"

          "I should have asked you this, a long time ago.  But it's better late than never.  River Jade Skellington," Orion raised the carved ebony jewelry box with both hands as he kneeled on one knee before her, "will you marry me?"

          River's lips parted slowly, and her eyes filled with happy tears, "Yes."

*        *        *

          "When should we tell them?" Orion asked, taking her hand in his, and massaging it gently.  

          "Tonight… I daresay we've kept this from them long enough.  If I know my parents, and my siblings, they've all started bets on how long it will be before we get engaged.  And I'm dying to know who was the closest.  I think it'll be Echo, or maybe Ollie… they're both pretty good at guessing." River smiled.  

          "Really, you think Echo would be closest?  She is good at narrowing down the choices, but she can be a out of touch when it comes to things like romance, I think." Orion cocked his head to the side slightly.  

          "Maybe, but she knows me, she knows her sister." River nodded, confident in her choice.  

          Orion smiled, and gazed into her beautiful jade eyes, how he missed them…  "Your eyes are the most wonderful, divine, perfect misty orbs I have ever seen… have I told you that?"

          "No.  But you just did." River leaned forward, and lightly traced her fingertips across his defined jaw as they kissed softly.  "You're the sweetest man I've ever met, have I told you that?"

          Orion smiled, "No." He shook his head, "But you just did." He leaned in and kissed her again.  

          River laughed, and wrapped her arms around him; she caught a hint of movement just outside the door, "I believe we have company, my sweet."

          Orion turned his eyes towards the door, which promptly began to open slowly, with a cautious knock.  "It seems we do.  Come in."

          Echo stepped into the room, "Hi, I just came to tell you dinner's ready." She told them, almost shyly.  

          Orion smiled, noticing she was still at somewhat of a loss as to how to act in front of him, now that he was back again.  It was all so easy when he was in a magic induced coma, but now that he was awake, it was a different story, "Thanks, we'll be down in a minute."

          Echo smiled softly back, and left the room.  

          River paused a moment before speaking, "We'll tell them after dinner." She decided.  

          "Ah, there they are." Jack smiled as his oldest daughter and Orion joined them in the dinning room, and took their seats, allowing the meal to begin.  

          "Wouldn't miss it, not with as good of a cook you are, Mrs. Skellington." Orion assured them, glad to be as though he were part of a real family, something he had never experienced before in his life.  

          Sally blushed, "Well, thank you, Orion.  And please, call me Sally."

          Orion nodded, "All right, M-Sally."

          Dinner was a fairly quiet affair.  The food was passed around, and was polished off between the six of them with hardly any trouble.  

          Echo began to rise to clear the table, but River stopped her, "Before the night grows any later, Orion and I have an announcement to make."

            Everyone was all ears.  

          "We're getting married." Orion revealed.  

          There was a moment of quiet silence before the reactions broke free, and the room was quickly engulfed in noise.  

          "Well it's about damn time!" Echo crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face.  She turned to her brother, and held out her hand, "Pay up, Ollie." She threw her head in their direction, "I was starting to get kinda worried there, thought I might actually lose."

          Oliver stared at them disdainfully, "You couldn't have waited just _two_ days, two _lousy_ days?  If you had announced this two days from now, I'd have won!" He hung his head, and dug into his pockets, grumbling under his breath.  

          "Oh, I can't believe you two!  Betting on something like this!" Sally shook her head, but quickly pushed it aside.  "Congratulations, Riv, and Orion." She walked forward, and hugged them both tightly.  

          Jack smiled widely, "Congratulations, sweetheart." He hugged his oldest daughter, and kissed her on the cheek, before firmly shaking Orion's hand.  

          "Congrats, to both of you." Oliver sighed, and hugged his sister, "I know you'll be happy together."

          "Happy is an understatement." Echo stated cheekily, barely able to keep her excitement in check.  

          "Thank you, all of you.  And of course, Echo, I hope that you will be my Maiden of Honor?" River smiled back at her family.  

          "Of course, you can't expect anything less from your little sister." Echo nodded.  

          "We thought about having you be the candle lighter, Ollie, but then we decided against you handing fire." Orion told him.  

          Everyone laughed.  

          "Yah, well, wise decision." Oliver shrugged sheepishly, smiling.  

          "Is there a date set?" Sally asked.  

          "As if you even have to ask, we decided on Halloween, in the evening, at sunset on the Spiral Hill." River said.  

          "Halloween, a perfect time.  I daresay this will be a Halloween to remember." Sally smiled.  

          "And with the first of October being just a night away, I'd say we've got a wedding to plan." Jack nodded, and quietly excused himself, he had a little sum to collect from the Mayor.  

*        *        *

          The newly engaged couple walked, hand in hand, down the streets of Halloweentown, towards Dr. Finklestein's tower.  

          "Hey!  I was wondering when we'd see you two again!" River's friend Ebony Kaufman stuck her head through the bars at the very top of the tower, where Sally's room used to be.  "We say you coming- Ivory's coming down to open the door, hold on a sec!" She pulled herself back in.  

          A few moments later the door sung open, revealing a tall, pale, girl with short blonde hair; Ivory Kaufman, Ebony's twin sister.  

          "Hi!" Ivory smiled brightly, "Long time no… see…" She trailed off, her pale colored eyes focusing on River's hand.  She looked back up, and stared them both straight in the eye, smiling –if possible– even wider, "You're getting married, aren't you?" She exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.  Hardly waiting for the first hint of an affirmative nod she turned and yelled up the spiral stairwell, "Hey, Ebony!  Riv and Orion are getting married!"

          "WHAT?!" Ebony came bounding down the stairs to join them, "You're getting married, really?  You're really engaged?  Finally?"

          River laughed, "Yes, finally, that's what Echo said, too.  Yes, we're engaged; the date's set for this Halloween."

          "Halloween?  But that's a month away!  Well, I guess after all this time another month won't kill ya." Ivory nodded in approval.  

          "Congratulations, both of you." Ebony hugged her friend tightly, and shook Orion's hand.  

          "Yes, congratulations.  And tell Echo she's right on the spider- what took you guys so long?" Ivory hugged them both.  

          "Well, first of all, The Admirer wasn't dead, and I wasn't about to put Riv's life in danger." Orion stated.  

          "Yah, but he's been dead and buried for quite some time now.  Eh, better late than never." Ebony pointed out.  

          "Oh, it's hasn't been that long, we just kept it to ourselves longer than you all would have liked.  But now that you know, we can get down to business.  I came to ask you guys, if you would be two of my Bridesmaids.  Echo's going to be the Maiden of Honor, and Olivia is going to be a bridesmaid, too." River asked them.  

          "Of course, do you think we could just sit and watch our best friend finally marry the man of her dreams?  Oh, no, you can't get rid of us that easy." Ebony laughed.  

          "You know you didn't even have to ask, but it was nice of you, anyway.  Who's going to be the Best Man, just out of curiosity?" Ivory smiled.  

          "Well, I haven't asked him yet, but, if he says all right, then Oliver." Orion half said, half mumbled.  

          "I'm sure he'll say yes, Ollie's not one to turn anyone down so long as he considers them a friend, and believe me, he considers you a friend." River assured him.  

          "Well, now, I believe we've got some planning to do, those dresses won't design themselves, now will they?" 

*        *        *

          Orion drew in a deep breath, and knocked on Oliver's closed bedroom door.  

          "Come in."

          He pushed the door open, and stepped inside, to see Oliver sitting at his desk, working away on his newest story.  

          Oliver looked up, and smiled, "Hi, Orion, what brings you to my humble, horribly, wonderfully, messy throne room, a.k.a., my bedroom?"

          Orion laughed quietly, "I came to ask you, if…  If you wanted to, to be, my Best Man, at the wedding.  I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to, but there's really no one else I'd want to ask.  If you rather not, that's okay, though, you don't have to feel pressured…" He started babbling.  

          "Orion, stop.  It's all right; you don't have to explain yourself to me.  Of course I'll be your Best Man, I'd love to." Oliver laughed.  

          "Really?" Orion let out a huge sigh of relief, "Thank you, so much, you have no idea how much this means to me, and Riv…"

          "Of course, anything, for a friend."

*        *        *

          The month went by quickly, as they often to when there is much planning and other things of the sort to be done.  The days seemed too short, and the weeks even shorter, but no one in Halloween let time get the better of them.  

          Invitations had been sent out, inviting all of Halloweentown, as, at one point or another, the Skellington family had interacted, and was friends, with majority of the ghoulish populations.  However, invitations were also sent to Mr. and Mrs. Claus, in Christmas Town.  

          Oddly enough, Dr. Finklestein was chosen, and agreed, to be the candle lighter.  The old doctor turned out to be actually quite charming, once you got to know him, and got past his strange, and twisted, views and ideas, all of which dripped with sheer brilliance.  Echo was the Maiden of Honor, Ebony, Ivory, and Olivia, friends of River and Echo, were the Bridesmaids, and Oliver the Best Man.  

          Jack took to organizing the ceremony, the mayor by his side as they coordinated the seating arrangements, and the reception, as well as various other things.  

          Sally and Ivory, the best seamstresses in all of the Holiday Worlds worked their magic, and created the attire for the wedding party.  

          River twirled around, her long, pure, white, wedding dress flowing around her ankles, "How does it look?" She asked, standing before her mother and her friends.  

          Olivia smiled, "Beautiful.  You're going to be a absolutely gorgeous bride, Riv."

          River blushed, a faint pink creeping into her blue-tinged skin.  She turned, and looked at herself in the mirror.  "Oh, wow…" She breathed, staring at her reflection.  

          The dress was long, and flowing.  It rested at the edge of her shoulders, and had a low cut top, with a long "V" in the back.  The sleeves were like that of an Irish shirt, made of lace that matched her veil.  It hugged her lean hips, and frame, showing the beauty of her perfectly hourglass shape, a long train trailing behind her.  

          "It's perfect…" She murmured, turning back to look at her mother and friend, "Thank you, this is more than I ever dreamed of, thank you all so much."

          "You're welcome, sweetheart." Sally smiled.  

          "Yah, anytime.  Your dress, believe it or not, was the simplest one, it was us Bridesmaids and Maiden of Honor's dresses that were the challenges." Ivory gestured to herself and the others.  

          The Bridesmaids' dresses were sewn of deep black and blue colored silk, all in the same style as River's, except much less ornate.  Echo's dress matched her sister's the closest, with a train and large black lace sleeves.  

          "Everything's turning out so perfect, I never imagined it all to be like this!  None of you could have done anything more to make this as wonderful as it's been.  Thank you all, again." River told them, a bright smile on her face.  _Perhaps all your dreams can come true…_

*        *        *

          The final days before the wedding melted away, and all that was left between that evening on Spiral Hill, and the present, was but a single night.  

          River stared silently out at the darkened night sky, the stars twinkling brightly against the black, and the moon large and full.  

          Tomorrow.  Tomorrow would be the day her life would change forever.  Tomorrow was her wedding day.  

          A faint smile caressed her lips as she imagined what the future held for the two of them.  It didn't truly matter, she knew the vows they would exchange were mere vocalizations of but a small sliver of how they felt towards each other.  An infinite bed of love resided between them, never to be broken, or disturbed.  

          She took one last look up at the night sky, before stepping inside, and closed the balcony doors.  She crawled into bed, and, for the first time in many years, fell into a peaceful, dreamless sleep, not to be awakened until the Jack-o-lantern sun rose high in the Halloween sky, and a new day had come.  

*        *        *

          Orion rested his head on his knees, staring off into space, emotions running romped through him; love, fear, confusion, compassion, nervousness.  

          He swallowed.  He knew he –they– were doing the right thing.  He and River loved each other, they were in love, and if anyone deserved to have even the slightest chance at life together, it was them, with all they'd been through, both together, and apart.  

          Then why did he feel so nervous?  It wasn't because he was about to make an oath to spend the rest of eternity with one other, to love and to cherish them, he wouldn't have it any other way.  There had been no others before River, and there would be no others after.  Still, the nervous tingling ebbed away at him.  

          He sighed, and tossed himself on the bed unceremoniously.  

          "I love River, and she loves me, and that's all there is to it." He said aloud firmly.  

          Sleep evaded him, but only for a time.  

*        *        *

          The Skellington mansion was bursting with activity bright and early the next morning.  Echo, Ebony, Ivory, and Olivia hurried to make sure everything they had control over was absolutely perfect, and ready to go, before they helped River ready herself, while they dressed themselves.  Sally helped the girls work with their hair, and put the final touches on their makeup, and Jack oversaw that the seating went as planned, and everything was ready to go when the big moment came.  

          River slowly pulled the carved ebony brush through the waves of her long red hair.  

          She turned at the waist when the door opened behind her.  She smiled, "Ollie."

          Oliver smiled softly, and walked over to her, "Just came to see how you were doing… and to wish you luck, I know you'll be happy together, you're meant to be; there's no other way either of you could have made it through any of this if you weren't." He sat down slowly.  

          River laughed, "Thanks, Ollie." She hugged her only brother tightly.  "I couldn't have made it through without you, or Echo, or Mom, or Dad, or even Zero, for that matter."

          A faint blush appeared on Oliver's cheeks.  

          River smiled, and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.  "Thanks for being the best brother anyone could have."

          "You're welcome." Oliver told her, and stood, walking towards the door.  

          "Oh, and Ollie." River stopped him.  She stood, and walked back up to him, "Here," She laid his poison ring in his hand, "I won't be needing it anymore."

          Oliver smiled widely.  

          Outside, everyone took their places as the bright yellow moon began to rise.  

          Orion stood up straight and tall, Oliver by his side as his best man, and watched, as the music started, down the aisle.  

          "Nervous?" Oliver asked quietly, a hint of mischief in his bright eyes.  

          "No… yes." Orion admitted slowly, suddenly feeling more self-conscious than normal.  

          Oliver laughed.  

          "Oh, look, Oliver, it's Olivia." Orion's revenge was quick and sweet.  

          Oliver's eyes widened; sure enough, after Echo, the Maiden on Honor, and the twins, Ebony and Ivory, the guests were graced with the divine presence and beauty of Olivia Isis Star.  He gulped.  

          It was Orion's turn to chuckle.  

          The music changed slowly, as Echo, Ebony, Ivory, and Olivia took their places, and River stepped out into view, an arm looped with Jack's skeletal one, the long train of her white dress following behind her, and the white lace veil covering her pale blue face.  

          He looked into her eyes, and everything faded away, all the nervousness, all the fear, everything, except love.  And he knew he'd made the right choice.  A smiled spread slowly across Orion's face, _so this is love_.  He thought.  

          The Mayor stepped up to the podium as the father-daughter pair approached, and stopped before them.  

          Jack slowly pulled his arm from his oldest daughter's, and stepped back, next to Sally, and the exchange of the vows begun.  

          "We, ghouls and creatures of Halloweentown and Christmas Town, are here today, to whiteness the marriage of River Jade Skellington, and Orion Aeolus Ceryx.  Do you, River Jade Skellington, take Orion to be your husband, to love and to cherish, for the rest of days?" The Mayor's voice projected out beautifully.  

          River stared deep into Orion's eyes, "I do." She almost whispered, her voice full of emotion, and love.  

          "And do you, Orion Aeolus Ceryx, take River to be your wife, to hold and to honor, until the sun no longer shines?"

          "I do." Orion repeated, doing all he could to keep himself from grinning like an idiot.  

          There was a pause, and then…

          "You may kiss the bride."

          Orion delicately lifted the veil, and leaned close, "All of my dreams have come true, and I could not ask for more." He whispered as he leaned close.  

          River smiled widely, "So have mine." She wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him close, as they shared their first kiss, as husband and wife.  

The End

And Thus Concludes the

River Jade Skellington Trilogy


End file.
